ING Groep NV Acquires Shares of 6,100 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV recently acquired a stake in Woodward, Inc. by purchasing 6,100 shares valued at approximately $1.11 million in the first quarter.
• Insider sales included EVP Randall Hobbs selling 846 shares and CEO Charles P. Blankenship selling 2,450 shares, reflecting decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Woodward, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 to be paid on September 4th, indicating a payout ratio of 17.72% and an annualized yield of 0.5%.

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,100 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Woodward by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,825 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Woodward during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Woodward by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the technology company's stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Woodward by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 114,680 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,928,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Capital Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the first quarter valued at $5,931,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WWD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Woodward from $229.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $291.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Northcoast Research raised Woodward to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Woodward from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.63.

Woodward Trading Down 0.2%

WWD traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $247.96. The stock had a trading volume of 85,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,158. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.82 and a 52 week high of $267.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $246.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.30.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.98 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Randall Hobbs sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,981 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,250. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Terence J. Voskuil sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.03, for a total value of $2,310,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,142,443.35. This represents a 66.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,296 shares of company stock worth $8,711,033 in the last three months. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.